Olesya Petrova

INTRODUCTION

The internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Olesya Petrova has a warm, round voice with excellent low, middle and top notes. She is charismatic, with a marvellous stage presence.

RECENT AND FUTURE ENGAGEMENTS

Her most recent and future highlights include among others:

• Amneris/Aida at the MET, at the ROH Covent Garden, and at Arena di Verona;
• Azucena/Il Trovatore, Ulrica/Un Ballo in maschera, La Frugola/Il Tabarro and Madelon/Andrea Chénier at the MET;
• Ulrica/Un Ballo in Maschera at Deutsche Oper Berlin and at Teatro Maestranza Seville;
• Fortune-teller/The Fiery Angel at Teatro Real, Madrid;
• Jezibaba/Rusalka at Opéra Royal Wallonie de Liège;
• Azucena/Il Trovatore in Rovigo, Treviso and at Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires;
• Azucena/Il Trovatore (concert version) and Verdi’s Requiem w. Auckland Philharmonic;
• Kozlovski’s Requiem with Singapore Symphony Orchestra;
• Verdi’s Requiem with Maestro Fabio Luisi and NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, with Maestro Chichon and Orquestra Filarmónica de Gran Canaria in Las Palmas, at Casa da Música Porto, and at Bratislava Festival w. Maestro Villaume, Alieva, Costello, and Belosselskiy.
• Mahler’s Lied von der Erde with RTVE Orchestra in Madrid;
• a soloist in Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky w. Basque National Orchestra, Spain;
• a soloist in Elgar’s Sea Pictures at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari;
• Mahler’s Symphony 3 and Symphony 8 with Maestro Fabio Luisi and NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo.

BIOGRAPHY

Olesya Petrova is a very sought-after mezzo-soprano and has toured Europe, the USA, South America, South Korea, China, Japan, and New Zealand. Her singing career is diverse and dynamic on the concert and opera stage. She has appeared on the stages of some of the world’s most prestigious opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House Convent Garden (a house debut as Amneris in Robert Carsen’s Aida in 2023), the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and the Teatro Real in Madrid, among others.

For four years, Olesya Petrova has been a guest star at the Arena di Verona Festival: in 2017, she made her debut in one of her signature roles as Amneris in Aida, a role she reprised in 2021, 2022, and at the 100th edition of the Opera Festival in 2023.

Since her 2014 debut in a production of Andrea Chénier in the role of Madelon, she has returned to the Metropolitan Opera stage performing as Amneris/Aida (2018/2019, 2022/2023), Frederica/Luisa Miller (2018), and the voice of Antonia’s mother/Les Contes d’Hoffmann (2015, 2017). She is to perform as Ulrica/Un Ballo in maschera (2023/2024).

In 2019, Olesya Petrova appeared at the Deutsche Oper Berlin as the Princess of Bouillon in Adriana Lecouvreur, alongside Anna Netrebko in the title role and Yusif Eyvazov in the role of Maurizio.

In 2018 Olesya Petrova made her Bolshoi Theatre debut, performing the role of Polina in a production premiere of The Queen of Spades (conducted by Tugan Sokhiev and directed by Rimas Tuminas).

As a guest soloist, in recent seasons she also appeared with the Greek National Opera (Ulrica/Un ballo in maschera and Suzuki/Madama Butterfly), the Opernhaus Zürich (Konchakovna/Prince Igor), the Latvian National Opera (Azucena/Il trovatore and Amneris/Aida), the Hamburger Staatsoper (Mrs. Sedley/Peter Grimes and Federica/Luisa Miller), Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu (Emilia/Otello), the San Diego Opera (Amneris/Aida), the Opéra de Montréal (Fenena/Nabucco and Amneris/Aida), the Opera Østfold (Azucena/Il Trovatore), the Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre (Joan/The Maid of Orleans and the Duenna/Betrothal in a Monastery).

Other engagements include Verdi’s Requiem with Teatro San Carlo di Napoli in Salerno and with Mehta at The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Tel Aviv; Missa Solemnis with Orchestra Cadaques Barcelona w. Maestro Noseda.

From 2007 to 2016 Olesya Petrova was a soloist with the Opera and Ballet Theatre of the St Petersburg Conservatory.  Since 2016 she has been a soloist at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, where she has performed the roles of Ulrica/Un ballo in maschera, Santuzza/Cavalleria rusticana, and the Countess/The Queen of Spades among others.

Her concert repertoire includes the mezzo-soprano roles in cantatas by Bach, Handel’s oratorio Messiah, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Mozart’s Requiem and Krönungsmesse, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Verdi’s Requiem, Mahler’s Second, Third and Eighth Symphonies and Das Lied von der Erde and Kindertotenlieder, Kozlovski’s Requiem, Prokofiev’s cantata Alexander Nevsky and Penderecki’s Morning Prayer in addition to song cycles by Wagner, Berlioz, Mahler, Mussorgsky and Schnittke.

Olesya Petrova collaborates with many theatres, concert halls, orchestras, and chamber ensembles around the world and has worked with Giordano Bellincampi, Emmanuel Villaume, Valery Gergiev, Leo Kremer, Fabio Mastrangelo, Vladimir Fedoseev, and other renowned conductors.

EDUCATION

Olesya Petrova graduated from the St. Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire in 2008, class of Professor Irina Bogacheva.

AWARDS

• Prize-winner at the II Paris Opera Competition (2012; 1^st prize and Audience Award)
• Finalist at the BBC Singer of the World competition (Cardiff, 2011)
• Prize-winner at the XIII Tchaikovsky International Competition (Moscow, 2007; 2^nd prize)
• Prize-winner at the I Galina Vishnevskaya International Opera Singers Competition (Moscow, 2006; 2^nd prize)